Going Global: How Singapore Incentivises Startups with the MRA Grant

Overseas markets are likely to see more Singapore enterprises with the enhanced Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant. First introduced in 2013, Singapore’s MRA grant gets a second extension till March 31, 2023, to encourage the internationalisation of its local startups and enterprises. This is further expanded from $20,000 a year to $100,000 across three years in the recent Budget 2020 announcement.

In
today’s interconnected world, globalisation is inevitable for the growth of local
businesses. It is especially more so for Singapore’s small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) given its small and limited local market. However, venturing
into a new foreign market can be daunting and costly and these had deterred the
expansion of most local SMEs. To incentivise and motivate growth and global
expansion, Enterprise Singapore (ESG), a governmental agency under the purview
of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has introduced the MRA grant to provide
funding and information for local enterprises, especially SMEs, who wish to
internationalise and grow their businesses.

With
this government support in place, enterprises in Singapore not only have the
opportunity to expand and explore the potential of their businesses in the
global market, they will also have the flexibility to make the necessary adjustment
to their respective operational and structural approaches.

Benefits of Singapore’s Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant

With the announcement of Singapore’s Budget
2020 in February, the enhanced MRA grant
has since introduced extended timelines and upgraded grant schemes. Some of
these newly implemented incentives include:

Enhanced financial support

Wider coverage of activities

Enhanced Financial Support

Under the refreshed MRA grant, a few financial
incentives are enhanced to better support local companies in their overseas
ventures. Firstly, the limitation on the applications for the MRA grant has
been lifted. Companies are now allowed to submit more than two applications in
a year. However, the rule for each grant remains the same –each application can
only cover one activity and the unused grant cannot be carried forward to the
following year.

Besides the abolishment of application quota,
the monetary support level for projects and expansion activities remain at 70%,
and the deadline of this incentive has been extended by three more years to
March 31, 2023. The maximum grant for this financial support has also been
increased from S$20,000 each year, to S$100,000 per new market over the three
years.

With these upgraded incentives, the financial
burden of local companies setting up businesses in new foreign markets will be largely
alleviated.

Wider Coverage of Activities

Understanding that financial aids alone are
not enough, the MRA grant also partially supports business projects and
activities. Besides the existing qualifying activities, the enhanced MRA grant
has expanded its supportable activities to include professional consultancy
services, allowing companies to enjoy a more well-rounded support from the
government.

These targeted activities can be categorised
into four key areas. Firstly, business set-up in the overseas market. This
includes expenses related to market entry assessment, such as advisory, legal
and documentation costs. Moreover, the third-party costs incurred to identify
overseas business partners through business matching have also been included.
Thirdly, activities related to overseas market promotion, such as marketing, PR
activities, trade show space rentals and many more, are also considered as
qualifying activities under the MRA grant.

Lastly, consultancy services namely in-depth
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) consultancy services to help companies better leverage
FTAs in target markets and in-market business development consultancy services to
identify and deploy suitable employees to carry out business expansion
activities in the target market have been included in the list of supportable
activities as well.

Such support will allow SMEs to make informed
decisions while expanding their businesses overseas, offsetting some of their
costs and better prepare them for future challenges.

Applying for the MRA Grant

With all the benefits highlighted above, it is
no doubt that the MRA grant is an attractive scheme for companies that
wish to expand their businesses overseas. However, in order to enjoy these benefits,
SMEs must be a local entity in Singapore with a group annual turnover less than
S$100 million per year or group employment less than or equal to 200 people.

To ensure the success of having the MRA grant,
the application steps
are highlighted as follows:

1. Cost Quotations

The applicant should first request quotations
for all the qualifying activities that they are considering to adopt from a third-party
vendor, usually a business consultancy company or PR agency.

2.
Business Grants Portal

After having the estimated costs for the
activities, the company can then proceed to submit its application along with
the quotations through the Business Grants Portal, a one-stop platform for businesses to apply for
government grants.

3.
Claim

The MRA grant can only be dispersed on a
reimbursement basis. Thus, all claims can only be done after the applicant
received an offer letter from ESG. The timeframe for the claims is limited within
three months of the project end date.

Any retrospective applications will not be considered. This means that a company wishing to apply for the grant cannot engage in any agreement, make initial payment or deposit as well as commence a project with a third-party consultant at the point of application. The claiming process is simple and done through the Business Grants Portal as well.

Go Global Today

Singapore is a small market with a lot of
aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses that lack an economic platform to
showcase their potential. With the newly enhanced MRA grant, these businesses
will have the opportunity and the support of the Singapore government for their
global growth in new foreign markets.

To understand more about the benefits of the
MRA grant and how your company can better prepare to go global, it is best to
engage business consultancy experts like Desfran. Spearheaded by one of the
world’s leading management teams, our team of seasoned experts stationed in
more than five cities across the globe are dedicated to help you with your
global ambitions, identify and maximise your business potential in the overseas
market.

As a one-stop solutions provider, Desfran not only provides new market entry consultancy services, your new market requirements like business registration, bank account opening, and marketing services can all be fulfilled through Desfran’s bespoke solutions. You should be assured that Desfran has not only received MRA grant offers for its overseas marketing needs, but it is also a service provider for the MRA grant’s supportable activities as well.